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Apartment for sale in Campal/Miramar area, Panaji, Goa. Spacious 3 bedroom flat (3BHK)available for sale in upscale area near Miramar beach Contact: [email protected] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Swine Flu Panic Death is a fact of life and how ever painful or however shocking it might be, we have to live with it. In India with it's vast population and limited resources death is a daily occurrence around us. The causes of death are numerous, even with all the advancement in science and technology India has made, the common man is left with little or no alternative but to succumb to this reality of life in a hurry. Day in and day out we see and read about death all around but as soon as there is an announcement in the media about any contagious disease we go into panic mode and cause pandemonium. The war within the media world, is in most ways responsible for this, with competition to be the first to bring the news to the public, in the view of increasing viewer-ship, the media tends to bend over backwards to amplify the situation and petrify the people out of their wits. We have more people die of AIDS than any other disease, is the government doing enough to curtail this deadly epidemic ? Roads accidents according to statistics has been a major killer in India over the years, even then, has the Government taken any concrete action to curb this menace ? That's never been front page materials except for a few high profile involvement, dengue fever and malaria have killed so many and it comes around every year during the monsoon season, has our sanitation improved and mosquito menace reduced in any way ? Why is the media not highlighting all these and bring it to the notice of the public and the Government ? Is this concourse not as sexy as may be keeping the toll of dead bodies caused by swine flu ? The media should educate the public and inform the government of the facts without causing chaos. In India the media can have perverse influence on the public like the last SARS scare, the panic lasted for almost a year during 2003, during which, business losses were in billions, millions of people fled from the suspected areas, schools and businesses closed down across the country, foreign countries stopped buying Indian products, foreign investors folded their tents and took off, thousands of foreign tourists cancelled their trips to India, and some international airlines stopped flying to India. No doubt India's economy suffered great losses but the worse suffers were Indians of the lower strata of society, who couldn't get proper medical aid because doctors and hospitals were overwhelmed by the SARS suspects, they couldn't get the basic cheap medicine as they had disappeared from the Pharmacy counters and so had no space, time or medicine for those dying of other everyday diseases. Since the victims were from the lower strata of society, it was not worthy front page news. WHO said that globally around 800 people had died out of which only around 60 were attributed to SARS in India, it's not that the lives of these 60 people were worthless, every life is important and for that, one has to understand the implications of such panic on people with other sicknesses and the over all scenario of the country. While dealing with the present situation, we should avoid the repetition of the SARS episode, the lessons learnt from previous situations should be highlighted and enacted upon. India being what it is, panic is inevitable when media tries to blow it out of proportions just to enhance it's viewer-ship. Swine flu deaths must be put into prospective but at the same time, time and space needs to be devoted to other spheres where as many lives if not more are at stake. The media should know that in India even an orgasmic shudder could set off panic and pandemonium and it surely does not even require something like the flu to ostensibly fuel it. Freddy Agnelo Fernandes -------------------------------------------------------- The content of this electronic communication is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and any others who are specifically authorized to receive it. It may contain confidential or legally privileged information. 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